Donald Trump heading back to court today as New York fraud trial nears end

Former President Donald Trump is expected to attend proceedings Thursday in his New York civil fraud trial as his defense calls its final expert witness to the stand.

Trump has attended the trial, which began on Oct. 2, eight previous times — including for his Nov. 6 testimony. That day, he clashed with the judge, Arthur Engoron, straying from questions and earning reprimands.

Trump, two of his sons and their company are accused of participating in a decade-long fraud scheme involving vast misrepresentations of Trump’s wealth to attract favorable rates on loans and insurance. They have all denied wrongdoing in the case. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking to claw back $250 million for the state, as well as sanctions against the defendants designed to severely limit their ability to do business in New York.

Trump seethed at James when he was in court on Nov. 6, saying that “she should be ashamed of herself.”

He and Engoron have also been at loggerheads since early in the trial, when Trump published a social media post attacking the judge’s law clerk. The judge then imposed a limited gag order, which Trump raged against and twice violated, incurring $15,000 in fines.

Three of Trump’s children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, have also testified during the trial. The two sons are defendants in the case, but Ivanka Trump is not. She was originally a defendant, but the allegations against her were dismissed by an appellate court that ruled they were outside the statute of limitations.

On Thursday, the Trumps’ defense will call Eli Bartov, a New York University accounting professor who is expected to testify about the role of property valuations in financial statements that are at the heart of the fraud case.

Donald Trump himself is scheduled to be the final witness called in his own defense, on Monday, Dec. 11.